Transportation is a key component of our modern industrial society, and its rapid and cost-effective performance has an important effect on the well-being of society. Operation of transportation systems in times past was essentially under the control of the vehicle operator, for there was no convenient means for the vehicle operator to communicate with a headquarters. This method often resulted in delivery of goods which were damaged by exposure to adverse environmental conditions, or by spoilage, which might result, for example, from unavailability of the pick-up source or the delivery recipient at the time of arrival of the vehicle. With the widespread availability of land-based Public Service Telephone Network (PSTN) telephones, the vehicle operator could periodically stop and report in to his headquarters, and receive updated pick-up or delivery information. The use of land-line communications was a great improvement over the prior lack of communication, and substantially improved transportation. Some transportation system owners adopted use of radio communications, but the range of readily-available was generally insufficient for more than local communications updates. The advent of cellular telephones and satellite communications allowed instantaneous updates of certain information, including the present location of the vehicle, changes or updates to the route or route schedule, and the like.
Some corporate fleet control center networks use reporting systems based on digital cellular or proprietary radio systems to connect to the vehicle. This method uses two-way messaging communications to the vehicle operator. The operator uses an onboard computer terminal to send a transaction log entry or help message through the digital cellular system to a company dispatcher. If the message is an emergency, the company dispatcher becomes an intermediary to the 911 dispatcher. There are two distinct disadvantages to this technique, the first being that the operator may not be in a position to operate the vehicle and the messaging device simultaneously, and the second being delay and possible miscommunication attributable to the presence of an intermediary. Also, the intermediary approach is disliked by 911 system operators, who prefer to have voice communication directly with the user or principal.
Computers are being installed in vehicles to provide navigation and communications. One of the most advanced publicly disclosed is the Columbus project from Bell Labs. This system consists of vehicular component called a Personal Travel Assistant, and cellular communications with special data protocol and GPS. The fixed end computer is a data base server which holds the map and address information. The user interface is a touch screen and synthesized text-to-speech voice. The screen automatically updates as the vehicle is driven. The GPS is used to tell the centralized data base server where the vehicle is and what map segment is needed. The vehicle computers are small portable scanners with keyboards used to read bar codes and to log transactions. These devices are sometimes equipped with proprietary radios or cellular radios to relay the transaction log entry back to the centralized server. The vehicle operator may use a cellular phone in conjunction with any of the above and may dial 911 to report an emergency and request help. A second call may also be placed to the corporate control point.
One of the deficiencies of prior systems is adverted to above, namely that a conference call between the vehicle operator, corporate transport manager and 911 operator is not possible for several technical reasons. The vehicle operator must often connect with both, but can do so only one at a time, because a cellular phone system is a point-to-point system. Another problem with use of the 911 system with wireless communications is that it is not easy to trace the connection back to the cellular phone, or to locate the originating cellular telephone exactly. A yet further problem is that 911 is a phantom switch number, in that the actual number of the PSAP serving the jurisdiction is unknown, except by the Telco. There are thousands of PSAPs across the country, and provision and update of the actual telephone numbers would in itself be a complex database task. Dialing a PSAP using the 911 number in a particular jurisdiction using a wireless telephone requires that the signal originate in that jurisdiction.
In the wire line system, it is relatively easy to trace the call back through the switch to the wire pair from which the call originates. Digital switches with a cable-pair database can look up the location of the cable pair incoming end point and provide the 911 operator with the address. Calls from cellular networks are a challenge to 911 operators, because location information is not readily available as in wire line systems. Progress is being made in providing some capability to do wireless location but, universal accurate wireless location is not currently available.
Improved transportation control is desired.